A Different Day
by Lady Bethia
Summary: Scott leaves the X-Men after the death of Jean/Pheonix and ends up in New Orleans instead of Alaska. And Scott learns some new things about himself. Sentinel/X-Men crossover.
1. A Different Day

Title: A Different Day Author: Lady Bethia Series: E-Mail: lady-bethia@yahoo.com Home Page: Pairings: None Ratings: PG Warnings: None Disclaimers: The X-Men are not mine. I am making no profit from this story. Sara Anne Miller and John Creed are my original characters. Summary: Scott leaves the X-Men after the death of Dark Phoenix and goes down south.  
A Different Day  
  
'I thought that Florida was humid. Boy was I mistaken. New Orleans is the worst,' thought Scott as he walked down the hall of the Holiday Inn to find his room. He was dripping with sweat and feeling miserable and all he wanted was a cold shower and a drink. He looked down at his soaked t- shirt and pulled at it in disgust. He was so preoccupied with his own discomfort that he was not paying any attention to the sounds going on around him. Then suddenly, the door right next to him opened and a young woman with a little toddler boy in her arms ran right into him.  
  
"Oh! I'm so sorry," said the woman as she stumbled back and rearranged the child on her hip.  
  
"Do you need any help?" He asked with polite concern.  
  
The harried young woman with auburn hair and her arms full of blonde baby boy and a diaper bag said, "No, thanks. John and I are OK. Are you sure you're alright?" She smiled warmly at him.  
  
"I'm fine." Scott stated noticing no ring on the woman's hand.  
  
"Are you new in town? Oh, I am so sorry, where are my manners? My name is Sara and this is my son John." She tried to hold out her hand for him to take.  
  
"I'm Scott." He said in way of an answer. He started to leave. "Well it has been nice meeting you." He turned to leave.  
  
"Wait," she called. "I'm sorry that I was staring. I was just trying to figure out what kind of mutation would need red colored glasses." She removed her own sunglasses and showed him her blue on black eyes. "I have unusual eyes too."  
  
He took a deep breath after he realized that he had been holding it. "I need them to keep the power in my eyes in check. If I took them off, I would blow a hole in what ever I was looking at."  
  
"Wow, that's a dangerous mutation. Can't you control them any other way other than your glasses?" She asked while tapping her forehead with her finger.  
  
"No, I had an accident when I was a child. It put me in a coma for a while and it damaged the portion of my brain that we think controls my powers." Then he thought, 'Why am I telling her this? Why do I feel comfortable with her?' "I always have to be very careful of my eyes so that I don't hurt anyone by accident." She smiled at him again. And it felt good to have some one not judge him a monster after finding out he was a mutant. He was beginning to think that coming down here was a good idea after all.  
  
"With my eyes, I can see really well in the dark which also makes me very light sensitive. Do you have any other mutations?" Sara asked. She was now curious about this handsome Yankee.  
  
"No, the eyes are enough." He replied shaking his head.  
  
"I'm also empathic. I don't know if I can do anything else." She shrugged her shoulders. "I try to stay away from people who want to test me. My ex told me some of the horrible experiments that the government and scientists did to him and other mutants. It really frightened me."  
  
Scott made no rely to that having seen what the government did to Logan, he understood perfectly.  
  
"Well Scott, John and I were headed over to the Krystal's down the street for some lunch. Would you like to come with us, that is if you don't have any other plans?" She asked in her friendly southern drawl.  
  
Scott half smiled and said, "Yes, why not I don't have any plans right now." His stomach growled in response. He looked sheepishly at his stomach. He hadn't even realized that he was hungry. And he couldn't remember what he ate last or when.  
  
"Great." Sara said.  
  
"Gate! Gate! Quare sam'ich" Cried John happily while clapping his hands. John then reached out for Scott to take him.  
  
Scott looked at Sara in confusion and she smiled.  
  
"He's a good judge of character Scott. Go ahead and take him if you want."  
  
Scott took John into his arms knew his worse nightmare had come true. He would never have a family with Jean.  
  
John sensed the change in Scott and patted him on the cheek while making shushing noises. "Cott be fine now." John said quietly.  
  
Scott looked at John with a startled expression and Sara said, "I think he inherited my empathy."  
  
After walking to Krystal's with only John making any attempts at conversation, Sara looked at the tall, sober man standing next to her. "Scott are you all right?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Yes, why?" He asked as he frowned at Sara with his 'The Leader is annoyed' look.  
  
"It's just that you have a look on your face like I use to wear a while back. Did you loose someone too?" Sara said as she put her hand on his arm.  
  
He stiffened and she drew away. Looking at the floor with great interest he replied, "Yes, my fiancée and best friend died in an accident."  
  
"I'm sorry. Mine just disappeared on us. He left the house to go to work and never showed up there or came home." She said and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"We had been together for four years. My parents wouldn't help me out because they never liked him especially since he didn't marry me after I got pregnant. Then the police wouldn't help either of course; being a mutant looking for another mutant wasn't a priority in their book. Anyway sometimes, he did work that was not on the right side of the law. But he promised us that he would stay away from those people and their damned missions that could get him killed or worse. But I guess the worst got him instead."  
  
"What was his name? Maybe, I have heard of him and know where he might be." Scott said as his mind began to race. The only person he knew of right off hand that fit the bill was Logan. He had only joined the team a year or so back and they still didn't know his real history.  
  
"Scott for some reason, you look familiar to me. Are you one of the spandex brigade?" She asked timidly almost looking afraid as she changed the subject.  
  
"The spandex.?" He sputtered startled by her question.  
  
"Pan'x, Pan'x." said John laughing. "Cott he'o?" He asked trying to bounce up and down in Scott's arms.  
  
Scott was completely baffled by the boy in his arms. "What did he just say?"  
  
Laughing and holding her sides she replied. "He said 'Spandex, spandex'. And then asked you if 'Scott was a hero'." Getting a hold of herself, she continued. "And what I was asking you was, are you with one of the Super hero or villain groups?" She replied trying to stop laughing and catch her breath.  
  
"We were trying to be heroes, but after Jean was killed I quit." He stated. The look on his face was one of stoic resolve mixed with pain.  
  
"I'm sorry." She took a deep breath before going on. "John's dad was one of the bad guys, I think. Then of course, the media makes it out that all of the super powered mutants are villains. He was trying to turn his life around with us. We were happy. And I know he loved us very much." She appeared to be about to cry when John insisted on his lunch.  
  
"Mama hungie. Cott hungie growl. Johnny hungie." John began to pout.  
  
"All right dear. Let's order." She said as she turned to go to the counter.  
  
"You never answered my question on his name." Scott insisted as he put John down.  
  
"I am afraid that you will either hurt us or tell me that he's dead." She stared at her blue tennis shoes. "I need to get my order in. Excuse me please." She walked to the counter rubbing her eyes and placed her order.  
  
He followed her. "I won't hurt you. You were never part of any of the groups were you?"  
  
"No, I wasn't. I was just out of high school when I met him at a club in Memphis. I was there celebrating the fact that I didn't have to be 21 to drink in Tennessee. Those of us born before August of that year could drink at 18 still; we were part of the grandfather clause. While anyone born after August 1 had to wait till they were 21." Scott ordered his food. After taking her seat, she took a deep breath and looked at Scott and said. "His name is Victor Creed." She hoped the chance was worth it and that Scott knew something.  
  
The name hit Scott like a ton of brick. "Creed, Sabretooth?" He asked in obvious shock. Then he began to stiffen slowly, he stared at her intently preparing for anything including an attack.  
  
"Yes, that was what some people called him. I never called him that. He was always Victor or Vic, or Dada for John."  
  
Scott stared at Sara with what she considered a very disapproving look. Sara sat up straighter in her chair. "I have done nothing wrong. He was always good to us. Victor never hurt John or me until he didn't come home that day. I will not have you or anyone look at me like I'm trash beneath your feet!" She started to get up and leave.  
  
"I am sorry Sara. It is just; I have fought with him and seen the people he has murdered." Scott gestured with his hands. "Sabretooth is a vicious psychopath. I just find it hard to believe him as a loving partner or father." Scott stated bluntly.  
  
"My parents would be in total agreement with you there," she said with a cold tone and even colder eyes. "John and I thank you for having lunch with us. I wish you luck." Sara got up and started to gather her things and her son. John began yelling loudly. He liked Scott and wanted to play with him.  
  
"No, no eat eat wit Cott." He shouted at the top of his voice.  
  
"John I will not argue with you. We need to leave and see about that apartment."  
  
"Please don't leave especially mad." He reached out and touched her arm gently. "Stay and finish your lunch." Scott said. He felt sorry for Sara. She was trying very hard and she really did believe that she had had a good life with Creed. Scott just could not get it out of his mind that she had lived with Creed for four years and he had not hurt or killed her or the boy. "I am sorry. I did not mean to hurt you like that. I just have had some bad run ins with the man and you surprised me." Scott tried to explain. "The last I heard about Creed was that he was in prison for murder and they sent him to the Shield facility. He will never be let loose."  
  
"So that is it. The law finally caught up with him. I guess I am glad now that he didn't marry me. I wouldn't have the heart to go through a public divorce and custody hearing much less trying to prove I've never done anything wrong in the eyes of the law." Her shoulders slumped as she stared at her untouched food. Beside her, John was happily playing with his food now that his mommy did not look like she was trying to leave.  
  
"What apartment are you going to see?" Scott asked trying to recapture some of the previous conversation and place it on neutral ground.  
  
"I'm trying to rent a place about a mile from here. My appointment is for 2pm." She said not really wanting to leave any more. She looked over at her son who was happily babbling to Scott about his food and toys. And Scott was really good with John once he got use to playing with him.  
  
"Do you need a ride over there?" Scott inquired trying to make up for his behavior.  
  
"Yes bye bye ride wit Cott!" shouted John happily.  
  
"Yes, if you don't mind?" Sara studied Scott closely. She reached out with her empathy. He felt just as bad about his situation as she, this startled her. She had never met a man who was that passionate about anything other than football, fighting or sex.  
  
"What is wrong?" questioned Scott. The expression on her face had him worried.  
  
"I'm fine. I just reached out empathically and you are so passionate about everything. Your lost, your pain everything." Sara shrugged her shoulders and continued. "I have never met a man like you before." She gazed at him in wonder.  
  
Scott blushed from the roots of his brown hair to his toes. He had never had anyone read him so completely upon first meeting him, except for Jean. 


	2. Day chp 2

Title: A Different Day Author: Lady Bethia E-Mail: lady-bethia@yahoo.com Pairings: Scott/Sara Miller Ratings: PG Disclaimers: The X-Men are not mine. I am making no profit from this story. Sara Anne Miller and John Creed are my original characters. Summary: Scott leaves the X-Men after the death of Dark Phoenix and goes down south.  
  
A Different Day  
Chapter 2  
  
Scott parked his red Ford Taurus in the front parking lot of the Sandy Springs Apartment complex. It was a beautiful complex with lots of trees and a watercourse that ran between the buildings. The ten buildings were only two stories tall; which was good because Sara did not want to have an apartment any higher up than the second story.  
  
"Thank you Scott for bringing us out here. I hope we didn't impose on you to much?" She asked as she pulled Johnny's car seat out of the car.  
  
"Do you want me to stay and take you back to the hotel after you see about the apartment?" Scott asked not wanting to just leave them there without a way back.  
  
"No, you go on." She waved randomly with her hand. "I'll call a taxi when I'm done. Besides, I am not sure when I will be done here. And thank you for having lunch with us and bringing us here." She said with a genuine smile. "Maybe, we will see you later at the hotel."  
  
"Sure, ah good luck with getting the apartment." Scott said as he watched her and Johnny walk up the complex's office and go inside.  
  
The inside of the office was cool and softly lit. The décor was soft, dark and old southern in character. Sara walked over to the lady sitting behind the desk and asked to see a Ms. Jones.  
  
"Ah yes, you must be Sara Miller. I will tell Mary that you are here." The young woman said politely as she picked up her phone.  
  
"Yes I am." Sara replied.  
  
Sara began to look around to see if there was some place out of the way to put the car seat. She glanced over at the woman at the desk who pointed to a spot just behind the couch by the wall. Sara smiled her thanks and put it down.  
  
"Mary Jones will see you now. This way please." She said as she stood to lead Sara to one of the doors off to the side.  
  
"Mary this is Ms. Miller." The woman introduced them and left.  
  
"Hi," Sara said as she shook hands will the woman. Johnny was hugging her leg tightly.  
  
"You have a very beautiful boy." Mary said as she waved to the chair in front of her.  
  
"Thank you, his name is John. But we call him Johnny. Can you say hi to the nice lady Johnny honey?" Sara asked her now quiet and shy son. Johnny just shook his head and hide further behind his mother. Sara shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Let's see you are interested in a two bedroom correct? I have several apartments for rent at the moment: 3 two bedrooms and 1 three bedrooms if you think you and your family might need more room. Mary stated.  
  
"I think a two bedroom would be just right for the two of us," smiled Sara.  
  
"Very good. I will show you two what we have then. Right this way." She said as she stood up and led them out of the office. "We will go see one of the two bedrooms that are open and ready for tenants over in building three. Lisa we should be back in about fifteen minutes." Mary announced to her secretary.  
  
The other woman simply nodded as she watched them leave.  
  
The oppressive heat hit the three of them like a hammer. "It is sweltering today; the news said it's only going to get worse for the next couple of days." Mary said as she shook her head while making polite small talk.  
  
"Yes, I heard that too. The apartments do have air conditioners don't they?" Sara asked with a little bit of concern coloring her voice.  
  
"Why yes of course they do." Mary appeared startled by the question.  
  
"It's just that the last place I looked at didn't have any air conditioning and they were trying to tell me I didn't need any because of the great breezes that they had. It of course was a load." Sara snickered, as did Mary.  
  
"I know the place I think. Cross Winds right?" She asked.  
  
"Yes that's the place." She nodded. "I was very disappointed with them. I like this place much better." Sara told her.  
  
As they approached the building, Sara saw a couple of other women with kids. "Oh good, you have other families with young children. Johnny needs someone else to chase around other than me. Hahaha." She joked.  
  
"Yes, we pride ourselves in being a community of families. Here we are number 4." She unlocked apartment 4 and ushered Sara and Johnny in.  
  
Once inside, Sara removed her glasses and proceeded to have a look at the apartment. It was beautiful and Johnny loved the back door. The back door was a sliding glass door that lead out on to a deck over looking the widest portion of the watercourse. On the water were several duck with ducklings in tow and two white swans it was wonderful. "Oh look swans," Sara exclaimed as she turned around.  
  
"Oh Jesus!" The apartment manager yelped at Sara when she was her eye. "You're a mutant?" She said in a frightened voice.  
  
"Yes, I am but it is only the eyes. I can't hurt anyone. I promise. In fact, most mutants don't even know their mutants or it is a little thing like my eyes or someone with green or blue skin." Sara said trying to calm down the manager.  
  
"I'm sorry I yelled it is that you hear so much stuff about mutants that can burn down buildings or kill people with a look." She trailed off.  
  
"I can't do any of that. All I want is the same as anyone else a safe home and good job. I have references for where I lived before that show I am an excellent tenant. I pay on time and I keep my place clean." She smiled and stated.  
  
"Alright, I will have to check your references any way for an apartment. The owner insists. Why don't we go back to the office and fill out the paper work." She said fast as she hurried out the front door and headed for the office. She no longer pointed out different things about the complex to Sara.  
  
Sara had an awful feeling that she just lost a chance at the apartment. Well it would not be the first time or the last she sighed inside her own head.  
  
Once in the office, Mary gave her all the paperwork she needed to fill out and left her alone to do it. When they had gotten back to the office a man had been waiting for her. And Mary seemed very disturbed by his appearance and quickly ushered him into another office.  
  
Sara finished filling out all the papers and got up telling Johnny, "Come on Johnny, I think we are finished here. Let's go to the other lady and give her these then I will call a taxi to take us to the hotel." Sara hugged Johnny closely for moral support. Just because she understood the managers reaction didn't make it hurt any less.  
  
"Here are all the papers I needed to fill out for Ms. Jones. Can I borrow the phone to call a taxi to take us back to the hotel?" Sara asked politely. The woman behind the desk stared at Sara's eyes but kept her professional cool and handed her the phone.  
  
Before she could call the number that she had gotten from information, Scott came in the front door and the man and Mary came out of the other office.  
  
"Sara I just couldn't leave you here without making sure that you got a ride back to the hotel." Scott stated.  
  
The man saw her eyes and stared hard at her with a frown.  
  
"Thank you Scott we really need that ride. Let me get the car seat." She replied as she headed over to the couch for it.  
  
"I'll carry it." Scott offered with a smile.  
  
His smile made her feel a little bit better.  
  
Meanwhile, Mssr. Jean-Luc LeBeau was staring at this woman with blue on black eyes with fascination. He had only seen eyes like that once before and it was on his adopted son. His eyes were red on black though. He could tell that he was making the young lady unhappy because of his staring.  
  
"Madame, I apologize for being so rude. I have never seen a petite with such belle eyes before." He said as he walked over toward her. "I am Mssr. Jean-Luc LeBeau." He held out her hand and she offered his in return but instead of shaking her hand he turned it over and kissed it.  
  
"Oh. Thank you. I'm Sara and this is Johnny." She smiled shyly confusion written on her face. She had felt his anger earlier but now realized that it was not aimed at her but at the manager. This was a great relief to her, considering she thought her eyes were going to get her hurt this time. He had been that mad.  
  
Jean-Luc bent down to be on the same level as Johnny. He had a very friendly smile on his face when he said, "Bonjour Mssr. Petite. I am Jean- Luc." And he held out a hand to Johnny.  
  
"I'm Johnny and Jean is a girl's name." He said with stubbornness that only a two year old could have.  
  
Jean-Luc laughed a deep rich warm laugh. "But petite, Jean in French means John."  
  
"My name is Johnny not pet-y." He frowned at Jean-Luc.  
  
Sara, Scott and Jean-Luc could do nothing but laugh. An argument with a two year old, no adult could ever hope to win.  
  
"Well Mssr. Johnny you are a bright boy, I hope that you will be back soon." Jean-Luc stated happily.  
  
"I go wit 'Cott to hotel now." Johnny walked over to Scoot took his hand and headed for the door.  
  
"Thank you Mssr. LeBeau and have a nice day." She headed after the two who just left.  
  
When they got outside and a little bit away from the offices, Scott asked, "What was that all about and what is wrong?" He looked worried and squeezed Johnny's hand tightly.  
  
"The manager didn't take it to well when she saw my eyes. I thought she was going to go runnin' out of the apartment when she saw them. But once I explained that it was only the color of my eyes that were different from hers and not something like you powers." She blushed and looked at the ground in shame. "She calmed down a little bit. But I think she only let me fill out all the paper work just so I could have less of a chance of being able to get them when they don't give me an apartment." She stated to cry.  
  
Johnny became upset and started to cry as well. He pulled away and went to his mom and hugged her legs tightly.  
  
Scott was unsure what to do so he just stood there patiently waiting for her to either start talking or moving.  
  
She looked up at him and said, "Take us to our room please."  
  
"Sara if you want to talk I'm a good listener. Hey big guy why don't you come over to me and I will carry you to the car. What do you like for dinner Johnny?" Scott asked trying to help as best he could.  
  
"'Cott you make mommy stop crying?" He asked. "I will try big guy."  
  
"Good. Chicken with tad'toes and ravy dat good and will make mommy happy I think." Johnny said with child like seriousness.  
  
"Alright chicken with potatoes and grave, that is what he said wasn't it?" Scott asked.  
  
Sara couldn't help but smile. "Yes that is what he said. You're getting pretty good at translating two year old." She complimented him. "And he was taking about KFC chicken. You really want to have dinner with us?"  
  
"Yes I asked didn't I?" He replied with his head cocked to the side. "And later you can tell me what happened after Johnny goes to bed." He asked seriously. 


	3. Day chp 3

The Title: A Different Day Author: Lady Bethia E-Mail: lady-bethia@yahoo.com Pairings: Scott/Sara Miller Ratings: PG Disclaimers: X-Men/Sentinel crossover. The X-Men and the Sentinel are not mine. I am making no profit from this story. Sara Anne Miller and John Creed are my original characters. Credits: Thanks to Susan who wrote the 'Dark Sentinel' universe. She did an X-Man/Sentinel cross and now I am hooked. Thanks a lot and keep writing Susan! Summary: Mssr. LeBeau steps into help some mutants rent apartments that he owns. And Scott helps take care of Sara and Johnny after a trying day.  
  
A Different Day  
Chapter 3  
  
"Mssr. LeBeau here is the Michaelson file that you requested." Mary Jones said humbly.  
  
Jean-Luc turned around to face her. He looked down at the file folder that she was holding out for him. He took the file opened it up and pulled out the denial form.  
  
Looking at the receptionist he said to both women, "Retype this and rent the 3 bedroom apartment to Mssr. Michaelson and his family. I do not care that his little one is a mutant. The child is harmless." LeBeau stated in a commanding tone.  
  
"But Mssr. LeBeau, the other tenants will get hysterical and move or demand that they leave if we let an obvious mutant live here." She pleaded.  
  
"He and his family will live here and that is final. Furthermore, were you planning on not renting to that young woman and her son as well? If so stop right now, if her references are good rent to her. And, I am to be informed as so as both families have moved in as well." LeBeau turned and handed the folder back to the receptionist and stormed out of the office.  
  
"Do as Mssr. LeBeau requested. I will be in my office. I have a headache." Jones said as she moved towards her office door.  
  
"Yes Mary." She said.  
  
----------  
  
The drive back to the hotel started out quietly with no one wanting to make anyone any more upset than they already were. Both Scott and Sara were angry about the blatant discrimination against Sara because she was a mutant. The only reason Scott could think of that Sara was not crying about it now was because that man Mssr. LeBeau had been nice to her and Johnny restoring some of her faith in normal people. And this reminded them both that not all people feared and hated them automatically.  
  
A short way down the road, Scott had noted in passing that there was a half way decent looking family restaurant not to far from the hotel. He thought smugly, 'And people complain that I'm unobservant, humph.' Trying to be cheerful Scott said, "Sara I just saw a good place to eat a street back or so. Why don't we get everyone cleaned up and go have a nice quiet dinner out. That should make us all feel a little bit better and it will be a more comfortable place for us to talk I think." Scott gave his best smile in hopes of making this woman he was starting to feel very protective of, go out with him. Not to mention, he was really starting to like little Johnny as well. He had spunk for a little guy. Scott reached over and placed his hand gently on her shoulder.  
  
Sara was concentrating on Scott's profile with side wise glances hoping to figure out what was going on with her feelings. She knew she was tired and was beginning to get a headache. And she really did not want to leave the hotel once she got there but Scott was really trying to help, she knew that but. Her mind was rambling while he was talking and when he touched her shoulder she was unprepared and so was over whelmed with Scott's emotions.  
  
Suddenly his feelings were too sharp and too strong for her. She whined and grabbed her head because the migraine that was low level before became pass-out level in one second flat. She had felt like this before for someone else and he had protected her after that for three years but he never opened up completely to her empathic need to bond and then he was gone without a trace. 'Not again, I can't,' was her last thought as her mind shut down in overload.  
  
Scott was startled when she flinched and grabbed her head, crying out - something was really wrong! "Sara what's wrong?" He asked with concern. He immediately went into Fearless Leader mode and pulled the car over to the side of the road and into a closed old Mobile gas station parking lot. After parking the car, he jumped and ran around to her side and yanked open the passenger door.  
  
"Sara, Sara talk to me!" Scott pleaded as he knelt down beside her. Sara was holding her head and not responding to him at all. She was making small quiet pained filled noises. It hurt Scott to hear them.  
  
"Mommy, Mommy! 'Cott Mommy going away again!" Johnny started to cry as he tried to get out of his car seat and get to his mother.  
  
"No." Scott yelled.  
  
Johnny looked at him in fear and confusion. All he knew was he needed to help his Mommy now because if he didn't she would go away like Daddy did.  
  
Realizing his mistake Scott replied in a much gentler tone, "I will help her. Sit tight and let me talk to her. Sara you're scaring your son and me. What is going on Sara please talk to me? Please don't keep quiet I need you to talk to me right now." His voice started off commanding but it ended in a low soft pleading tone accompanied by gentle caresses to her face while he held and messaged one of her hands.  
  
She heard Scott calling to her as if she were at the bottom of a well. She could also hear her son crying and calling her. "Take me back to the hotel." She gasped as she forced herself to the surface to say. "I need my medicine - migraine." She rasped out finally.  
  
"No, I am taking you to a hospital." Scott refused to believe that this was just some migraine. His full protector mode was now in top gear.  
  
"No please back to the hotel. Too many people at the hospital - empath. Please Scott calm down you're making it worse for me." She whined.  
  
It was Scott's turn to flinch as he realized he was the one hurting her. "Do you really have medicine in your room?" He demanded softly trying to control his emotions at the same time. Then he looked up at Johnny. He softened his expression.  
  
"Sorry little man." He reached out and petted Johnny's head. "I need your help. Does you're mommy really have medicine for her headache back at the room?" He asked Johnny.  
  
"Mommy has med make her seep make her feel better. You make Mommy better peazzz?" He then burst into hysterical tears.  
  
"It's ok big guy I will get you two back to your room and get your mom what she needs to feel better." He opened the back door and gave Johnny a hug. Placing both hands on Johnny's face and tilting it upwards to look into his eyes, and as he wiped away the tears Scott said, "I will take care of both of you ok. You have to be a big boy now for me and help me take care of your mom."  
  
Johnny reached up to take off Scott's glass so he could look at him. But Scott stopped him in mid motion.  
  
"No Johnny. If I look at anyone or anything with my glasses off I hurt them. Let's just say my eyes are like guns and if you take my glasses off my eyes would shot you and hurt you badly and I don't want to do that." Scott tried to explain.  
  
"Johnny helps 'Cott make Mommy better." He said with a nod and all the determination that a two year old can give because he seemed to believe this man with the strange glasses.  
  
"Yeah big guy we will make your Mommy better. Now I need to talk to your mom again and get both of you back to your room." He turned and closed the car door and went to Sara side.  
  
"Sara stay with me ok?" He said as he knelt down and took her hand again.  
  
"Yeah, just get us out of here. I need my meds now." She scrunched up her eyes and began to whine and whimper in pain again.  
  
Scott closed her door for her and got back into the car and headed for the hotel. Once there, he got Johnny out first with the diaper bag and then helped Sara out.  
  
Johnny went to his mother's side and took her hand while Scott supported her on the other side.  
  
Once up stairs, "Scott my card key. It's in the diaper bag." So, Scott began the infamous search for the card key thru the diaper bag, but as luck would have it, Scott managed to find it right way. After opening the door, Scott dropped the diaper bag down on the floor just inside the door and turned to Johnny while still supporting Sara. "Johnny can you get on the bed and pull back the covers?"  
  
He nodded his head eagerly and said, "Johnny fix bed for mommy 'Cott."  
  
"Scott my meds are in my overnight bag in the bathroom." Sara told Scott as she staggered toward a chair near her bed with a light blue flowered comforter that Johnny was pulling off.  
  
"Sara lay down and I will get the medicine and water for you. If I'm correct you can barely see much less stand up on your own. Besides late my girl friend Jean was a telepath and some times the stress would cause her to overload too. I can help if you let me." Scott gently added while he headed for the bathroom to get her medicines.  
  
"Thank you." She said as she tried to smile thru the pain. "You make a good Knight in shining armor for psychics Scott."  
  
He smiled sadly and as he entered the bathroom. The over night case was on the sink with several bottles of medications on top. Picking up all five bottles and a glass of water, he headed back to Sara.  
  
"Sara I recognize all but one of these medications. What is this one labeled psyblocktol?" He asked as he opened the plainly labeled non prescription bottle.  
  
"It is a drug to help empaths block out others' emotions. I use it when my shields are down or if I am going to a very crowded place or when I am hurt. It keeps me from overloading. I guess I should have taken some of it today - huh." She explained tiredness and pain expressed in every word.  
  
"Where did you get this stuff?" He questioned. "Do you have any idea if this stuff is safe? I know some people who could test it to make sure. It could be addictive, have bad side affects or even kill you." He stated in alarm.  
  
"It appears safe Scott. I have been taking it off and on again for a few years. A doctor in Memphis sends it to me." She took a deep breath and began to explain, "He is a mutant too, a telepath. He was working some where on the west coast and helped develop the drug. His partner wanted to go thru normal FDA channels with it but he did not want the people he knew that needed it now not to have it. Besides, he saw the dangers of going thru the government with it. They could stop production altogether or worse, keep detailed records of who was receiving the drug and then going after them."  
  
"He took the formula and faked his death. His partner was furious, but he ended up trying to develop another drug using the formula he originally started with. It was found to cause strokes if a telepath or empath used it for more than two doses in a 24 hour period. The FDA shelved it. And that was when my doctor lost all contact about his old partner."  
  
Sara sat up in bed just high enough to take some of the pills and drink the water. She lay back down and said, "Scott I'm going to need you to watch Johnny for me please. I am really sorry about this but I have to go to sleep now or it will only get worse."  
  
"No problem. When is his bed time?" He asked.  
  
"7pm but he needs dinner and a bath too." She looked worried as she said it.  
  
"It is all right. I will take care of everything. Do you think you will wake up in a few hours and want something to eat?" Scott asked.  
  
"Yeah just a chicken salad sandwich would be good. You can put it in the fridge." She smiled weakly and closed her eyes.  
  
----------  
  
Three hours later, Scott was in the bathroom up to his elbows in bath water with a hyperactive two year old boy in the bath tub. "Johnny, how come I am as wet as you are and you're the one in the tub?" Scott asked bewildered.  
  
"Bath fun, more water more water!" Johnny squeals in delight as he splashed Scott again.  
  
"Johnny quiet we don't want to hurt your mommy's head or wake her up do we?" Scott said as he scowled at the little boy.  
  
Johnny just laughed at him and continued to play his game with his toys.  
  
Scott rolled his eyes and began to smile.  
  
Sara heard splashing in the bathroom and got up and walked over to take a peek thru the door. The site that greeted her was a drenched Scott giving an energetic Johnny a bath or at least trying too.  
  
"Well I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. For a man who has never had children of his own, you are doing one hell of a job with Johnny." Sara said quietly as a feeling of rightness spread thru her.  
  
"What the???" Scott looked up startled. He had been so focused on Johnny that he hadn't heard Sara get up.  
  
"Sorry I didn't mean to startle ya'll." She apologized with a small smile.  
  
"What are you doing out of bed and how is your head?" Scott said as he got up and walked over to Sara while wiping his hands on a towel in a vain attempt to get dry.  
  
"I'm feeling better. It now feels like I have a large cat sitting on my head instead of a knife sticking out of it." She replied.  
  
He began to look at her intently- her face and body to see if her words really matched what she was saying.  
  
Sara looked away shyly because of the intensity of his stare. "Scott I'm better really. Johnny has Scott been taking good care of you honey?" She asked her son.  
  
"Yeah 'Cott gate! We ate chicken! You eat now mommy?" Johnny said.  
  
"Yes I guess I will. What did you leave me to eat little man?" She asked her son as she patted is wet head.  
  
"Chicken sam'ich, chips and tea. Good eat now!" He said in a stern voice as he waved his finger at her in an imitation of a general giving out orders.  
  
Both Scott and Sara laughed at Johnny, and Johnny grinned back at them.  
  
"Mommy we keep 'Cott peazz?" He begged.  
  
"Uh well. Listen Johnny you just can't keep people." She started to explain when Scott interrupted.  
  
"I will be friends with you two for as long as you want me too. Is that good enough big guy?" He asked.  
  
With a huge smile Johnny squealed, "Yes!"  
  
Both Scott and Sara looked pained at the sound of the squealing that Johnny was doing.  
  
"Johnny you are hurting both your mommy and me with your squealing and yelling. Stop please now." Scott demanded.  
  
"Sorry." He replied  
  
Scott looked at Sara and said, "Do you think that you're going to be alright for the rest of the night?"  
  
"Yes." She said simply as she placed a reassuring hand on Scott's arm.  
  
"OK. I just didn't want to leave if you still needed help. It is getting late and I need to change out of these wet clothes." He said as he headed toward the door. Stopping he looked back and with a large smile asked, "Do you want to do breakfast in the morning?"  
  
"Is this a date Mr. Summers?" She joked with a smile of her own.  
  
"Yes I believe it is Ms. Miller. And of course we will need our chaperone." He winked at Johnny who did not understand all that was just said but enough to know that he would see Scott in the morning.  
  
"Breaky with 'Cott yeah!" He yelled out. "Help want out now Mommy." He pleaded.  
  
Sara helped her son out of the tub and he promptly ran over to Scott naked and wet and gave him a great big hug around the knees. Scott bent down and returned the hug willingly.  
  
"Looks like you have a friend for life Scott." She said laughing.  
  
"I could do much worse." He replied. "Good night big guy and I will see you in the morning. Is eight thirty to early for me to come and get you?" He asked Sara.  
  
"No eight thirty will be just fine. And thanks again for all your help today. I don't know how I would have survived it with out you." She shyly added.  
  
"Well my room is just two doors down on the right if you need me again, ok." He stated.  
  
"Thanks. I better take care of my little streaker and have some dinner. Good night Scott." Sara said.  
  
"Good night Sara and Johnny." He replied as he walked out into the hallway. 


	4. Day chp 4

Title: A Different Day Author: Lady Bethia E-Mail: lady-bethia@yahoo.com Home Page: Pairings: Scott/Sara Miller Ratings: PG Disclaimers: X-Men/Sentinel crossover. The X-Men and the Sentinel are not mine. I am making no profit from this story. Sara Anne Miller and John Creed are my original characters. Summary: Scott is having a hard time dealing with the strange emotional responses he is having towards Sara and Johnny. He feels like he has known them for years and that they belong to him. The only person he has ever felt that overly protective of was Jean. But it is not just his mind that is responding strangely his body too.  
  
A Different Day  
Chapter 4  
  
Going back to his room, the first order of business was a shower and dry clean clothes. Not only was he completely drenched and this time from Johnny's bath but he was also still sticky and uncomfortable from sweating so heavily from earlier in the day. He felt like he was encrusted in salt and his clothes were driving him nuts. 'I hate the weather down here you never dry out and if you do you feel like you're wearing sandpaper instead of clothes.' He thought irritability.  
  
Scott turned on the water in the shower and set it to the exact temperature that he liked. As the water adjusted to the temperature set, Scott retrieved some clean underwear for the night from his suitcase and put them on the sink. Methodically, he undressed, laid his dirty clothes across the toilet and climbed into the shower. "Damn that's hot! What in heck happened?" He yelled after getting hit with what felt like scalding hot water.  
  
He quickly turned the hot water down and tested it again. Having found that it was all right again, Scott decided it was a fluke and started to soap up. But then all of a sudden he was freezing. "What the hell is going on this is ridiculous?" Scott growled and wrenched the knobs to adjust the temperature where he wanted it to be again. He quickly finished his shower before it could torture him some more.  
  
"If I'm going to stay in this hotel any longer than tonight they better fix that water problem or move me to another room." He grumbled as he dried him self off with a towel but that too was torture because the towel felt like sand paper to his over sensitive skin. To make matters worse even his underwear seemed to rough.  
  
Tired and uncomfortable, Scott stalked into his room. Looking around in disgust, he went to the TV, grabbed the remote and turned it on. Amanda assaulted his ears with her annoying teenage laughter. The TV was still set on the Disney channel were Johnny had been watching cartoons earlier. Scott channel flipped until he came across a movie station playing The Highlander. It being one he had never seen before, Scott decided to watch it. It looked mildly amusing and he vaguely remembered that Hank and Bobby had both loved the movie.  
  
Scott started to let his mind wander and it began to replay the events of the day with what happened between Sara, Johnny and him self with The Highlander as back ground noise. He could not believe that he had only just met Sara and Johnny. To him, it felt like he had known them all his life and that being with them was right. This frightened him, and Scott was not a man easily frightened. What was going on? And what were these weird feelings and sensations he had started having? Was he coming down with something? Deciding that it must be mental as well as physical exhaustion - especially after taking care of Johnny by himself for several hours - he made up his mind it was time to stop analyzing things to death and just go to sleep. He wasn't Cyclops any more he didn't have to plot and plan every action or reaction to everything life handed him. Besides if he did, he would have to consider the ramifications of Sara having lived with Creed and that Johnny was Creed's son. He was truly glad that he wasn't a part of the X-Men now. They would not understand and they would be a threat to Sara and Johnny. He had to protect them even if that meant protecting them from his past.  
  
Scott was so tired. He did not want to make any more truly important decisions for a long time. But he knew that he was bordering on a really important decision one that had to do with Sara and Johnny. But it could wait until tomorrow or even later. He got up and turned off the TV, putting the remote on top of it. Walking over to his suitcase he pulled out his night goggles took off his glasses and put on the goggles. He then turned out the lights and crawled into bed. It took him awhile to get comfortable but he finally did and went sound to sleep thinking that it must be a really strange song that his neighbors were playing because the base almost sounded like a heart beat.  
  
After what seemed to him to be only a few minutes, Scott awoke because of the sounds of a door being kicked in and people screaming. Grabbing his pants and throwing them on, he snatched up his visor as he ripped off his goggles. He picked up his key card shoving it into his pants pocket as he ran out the door and down the hall towards the sounds of the fight. It turned out to be coming from Sara's room!  
  
The door had been broken in and there were claw marks on the frame. Suddenly, Scott heard a voice he had hoped he would never hear again roaring at Sara about their son - it was Sabretooth.  
  
"Sabretooth get the hell away from them!" Cyclops shouted as he took up a battle stance in the doorway.  
  
Sabretooth turned from his threatening of Sara and Johnny and faced Scott. "Get the fuck out of here Cyclops this aint any of your business. She was my woman and this is my son." Turning toward her again, "And you bitch, I'll teach you not to screw around on me especially with no good X- punk!" He growled at her while striking out with his clawed hand to scratch her face but the claws never made it.  
  
Cyclops seeing Sara and Johnny in moral danger went into battle mode and shot Sabretooth's hand before it could touch Sara. The surprising thing was he did not use his usual restraint against his opponent, this time he was going in for the kill. To him it was like looking at him self from the outside. He knew they would never be safe ever if Sabretooth lived. He shot at Sabre's wrist and severed his hand. Sabretooth spun around in fury and pain towards Cyclops as he roared and charged him. Cyclops just held his ground and fired his eye beams straight at Sabre's heart and punched a hole right thru, destroying his heart and part of the wall behind him. Sabre was dead before he hit the ground.  
  
Running over to Sara, he grabbed her and began to check her over for any damage finding non he scooped up Johnny who was still screaming uncontrollably about the horrible monster that was trying to hurt his mommy and held him tight to show him that Scott would protect him.  
  
Coming back to his senses after feeling that both Sara and Johnny were all right, Scott stared at the corpse in front of him in horror and looked up at Sara expecting the worst. But instead of looking at him in fear when she tore her eyes away from Sabretooth's corpse she threw her arms around him, holding on as tightly as she could while Johnny continued his histrionics.  
  
"Scott, oh God, thank you Scott I thought he was going to kill us. I have never been so scared in all my life. That was not the man I knew and loved that was a vicious monster." Sara began to cry and shake as she sought comfort in his arms.  
  
Scott was numb.  
  
"HRRR! What the hell?" Scott sat up in his bed drenched in sweat and shaking. It was a dream, but it seemed so real to him. He could taste Sara and Johnny's fear in his mouth. He could hear Sabre's heart beat before he stopped it. What was going on?  
  
Now that he was in no condition to go back to sleep he decided to get up, get dressed and go over to Sara's room and make sure everything was alright - just in case. Cyclops' mind further planned to scout around the hotel as well to make sure that everything was as it should be and that this dream was not some kind of premonition. Though, he had never had any precogs before that never meant anything when it came to being a mutant.  
  
At about 1 am Cyclops determined that there really was no threats lurking around and that he should just go back to bed or he was not going to be in any shape to have breakfast with Sara and Johnny. He did not look forward to an overactive two year old with no sleep.  
  
When he reached his room Scott found the bed very inviting and was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow for the second time that night.  
  
------------  
  
The next morning at 6 am the alarm on Scott's wristwatch woke him up. He was tired and a little stiff but everything seemed to be ok. When he reached the bathroom and took one good look at himself in the mirror he decided he needed another shower. Praying to whatever gods happen to be listening he asked that the water stay at the temperature he wanted it at. Someone was listening it appeared because he had no problems with the shower at all. Even his clothes seemed all right. 'I guess I was just exhausted and over reacting to everything yesterday.' The thought calmed him.  
  
Scott was outside of Sara's door promptly at 8:30. But before he could raise his hand to knock on the door he heard Johnny yell that Scott was at the door. He was taken aback by the fact that Johnny had known that he was there before he had even had a chance to knock. And when Sara opened the door suddenly it made him jump in surprise.  
  
"OH! God you are here!" She exclaimed as she clutched her chest just as surprised as Scott. "Johnny told me you were here. I just didn't believe him 'cause I hadn't heard you knock yet'." She explained blinking owlishly at him.  
  
"I didn't have a chance to knock. I was a little startled myself when I hear him tell you I was here too." He said and laughed breaking the tension.  
  
Sara smiled back at him. "Well I guess he got his father's sharp ears. Come on in I'm almost ready." She said as she held open the door for him.  
  
"That's ok is there anything I can do to help you with Johnny maybe?" He asked knowing the little tike was a real hand full.  
  
"No. Johnny's ready I'm just a little bit slow this morning. I didn't sleep all that good last night, probably just the after affects of that darn headache. It gave me weird dreams. How'd you sleep?" She asked thinking she saw shadows under his eyes too.  
  
"You know it's odd but I didn't sleep much either." He answered quietly. "How is your head today? Better I hope." He looked at her closely to see if he could read if she had any lines of pain marring her face.  
  
She smiled brightly, "No headache all gone. Thanks for everything you did for us yesterday. I know it was a lot especially since we just met at lunch." She stated shyly.  
  
"You know that is one of the funny things I was thinking about last night. I almost feel like I have known you for a long time." Then he turned and picked up Johnny who was hugging his leg and trying to get his attention. Scott started to tickle him and said, "But you squirt I know you are my punishment for being a rotten child myself." Everyone laughed.  
  
"'Cott good boy." Johnny said emphatically as he patted his shoulder.  
  
------------  
  
Breakfast was very good. The clerk at the desk recommended the Pancake House, which was only about three blocks down from the hotel.  
  
"What are your plans for today Sara?" Scott asked hoping that he would be apart of it.  
  
"I promised Johnny that we would swim after breakfast and then I was going to look at a few more apartment complexes. What're you doing today?" Sara asked.  
  
"I didn't have any plans really. I can drive you if you want. Or I could even give you the keys and I can stay here and baby-sit the Johnny monster." He said with a smile and a tickle for Johnny.  
  
"Play wit 'Cott!!!!!" Johnny squealed happily.  
  
"How about a compromise, you drive us and watch Johnny while I do the tours. You two can test the complexes to see if they're kid friendly." Sara smiled broadly as she suggested this.  
  
"What do you think kido?" Scott asked Johnny in a serious voice.  
  
"We play?" He asked back confused.  
  
"Yes we see if they have a play ground and a pool and anything else fun that kids like." Scott replied still using his serious negotiation voice.  
  
"Yes we 'plore for mommy." He nodded his head seriously giving a good imitation of Scott.  
  
"Good then it is settled," said Scott returning Sara's grin.  
  
------------  
  
Out in the hallway before splitting up to go to their separate rooms, Sara said, "Scott it's going to take me a few minutes to get ready why don't you meet us outside by the pool in about 15 minutes."  
  
"Sure that's fine. See you then." Scott replied as he left the two at their door.  
  
Once inside her room, Sara checked the answering machine to see if anyone had left a message for her and to her surprise there was one. Dialing the phone so she could pick up her message she began to wonder who it was.  
  
"Hello Ms. Miller this is Mary Jones over at Sandy Springs Apartment Complex. I would like to inform you that the apartment you were looking at yesterday is yours if you come down some time today and fill out the final paper work and give us the deposit. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call. Have a good morning."  
  
Sara's jaw just about hit the floor. She held out the receiver of the phone and stared at it like it was an alien. She then quickly replayed the message again twice more before she heard her son begging her to listen to him.  
  
"What hunny? I'm sorry I didn't hear you. What is it you want?" Sara asked still dazed.  
  
"Mommy?" He asked looking scared.  
  
"Oh hunny, I'm ok. I have good news we have a new home." She said as a smile grew on her face as her excitement increased.  
  
"I've got to make one phone call so you be quiet now ok?" She said to Johnny who just nodded and turned on the TV.  
  
"Hello this is Sara Miller may I speak to Mary Jones please?" Sara asked the receptionist.  
  
"Yes Ma'am just hold on and I'll get her." She replied.  
  
"Hello Ms. Miller?" Ms. Jones answered the telephone.  
  
"Yes is it really true I can rent the apartment?" She asked a little breathlessly.  
  
"Yes Mr. LeBeau the owner of the complex insisted that we lead the way in trying to stop discrimination against the mutant community in the housing industry. I hate to admit it but he had to remind me that we went through the same thing with allowing blacks into certain neighborhoods and such in the 70's and 80's. The only thing we are going to ask special is that you sign an extra damage clause that says that you will cover the cost of repairs if damage is done by your or your son's abilities. Is that acceptable?" She actually asked with sincerity.  
  
"Yes of course, it is very reasonable. I will be over to sign the last forms and give you my check in about an hour." Sara agreed though still shocked.  
  
"Yes that will be fine. I'll be here. Thank you and see you in a little while." Jones replied before hanging up.  
  
"Thank you bye." Sara said as she turned to Johnny.  
  
"Johnny it looks like we will be swimming this afternoon hunny instead of now. I need to pay for our new apartment." Sara told the child.  
  
"No swim with 'Cott!" He cried and threw himself at his mom.  
  
"Darling it will just be a little bit longer and then we can all swim I promise." She said as she kissed him on his head.  
  
Grabbing her purse, diaper bag and Johnny she headed over to Scott's room hoping that he was still there.  
  
Scott was startled as he was putting on is his swim trunks by a knock on the door to his room.  
  
"Who is it?" He called just before looking thru the peephole.  
  
"It's Sara. Scott I need to talk to you." She answered excitement all but visibly flowing from her.  
  
"Just a minute." Scott replied, as he made sure he was presentable.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked as he opened the door and took in the fact that Sara was fully dressed and not ready to go to the pool.  
  
"Aren't we supposed to be going to the pool?" He indicated her lack of proper attire with a wave of his hand.  
  
"Well, I got some great news when I checked my phone messages when I got back." She said practically bouncing up and down. "That lady at Sandy Springs called and said that the man we met yesterday is the owner and he wants mutants to live in his complex and that he won't tolerate discrimination." She smiled as she told him the good news.  
  
"'Cott we go get new house then swim." Johnny pouted.  
  
"What? They are renting the apartment to you and Johnny? I don't trust them Sara there is something fishy going on here." Scott answered incredulously.  
  
"Well that is what she said. I've got to get over there and sign the papers. I want you to come with me if you would. Could you watch Johnny and have a look around to make sure everything is ok for me?" She asked with a puppy dog look as she batted her eyes.  
  
"Of course, sure. I'll go I want to talk to that lady myself and find out what really is going on." He added emphatically. 


	5. Day chp 5

6

A Different Day

**Title**: A Different Day

**Author**: Lady Bethia

**E-Mail**: Page: http://groups. Scott/Sara Miller

**Ratings**: PG

**Disclaimers**: X-Men/Sentinel crossover. The X-Men and the Sentinel are not mine. I am making no profit from this story. Sara Anne Miller and John Creed are my original characters.

**Summary**: Scott helps Sara and Johnny move into their new apartment. Now what does he plan to do with his own life?

A Different Day

Chapter 5

The meeting with Mary Jones went smoothly and she sincerely meant her apology to Sara for trying to keep her out of the complex because of her own unfounded fear. Everyone admitted that the News people and Religious fanatics did try everything they could to make it sound like all mutants were out to steal, kill and take over the world. After Sara explained that she was an empath with no violent abilities and that Johnny could just hear, see, smell, feel and taste better than a normal person or mutant the manager was relieved and quite happy with her boss' choice.

The next day Scott drove everyone over to the truck rental place. They got the directions from the very friendly customer service lady at the front desk who also told them where the closest mall was too so they could get the things they would need to set up a new home. The U-Haul rental sat sandwiched between the Kroger's grocery and an Ace Hardware store, which was part of the nice middle class neighborhood, which was only two blocks from the apartment Sara, was renting.

"Shit!" Scott yelled slamming on the brakes as he screeched to a halt just before making the left turn he had started to do into the parking lot of the U-Haul center. A battered brown and white pick-up truck raced out of the parking lot and right into traffic almost broadsiding them as it sped into traffic.

Scott reacted on instinct followed the trajectory of the fleeing truck and blasted the back tire and wheel well on the left side sending it into a spin that flipped it over twice. The truck finally came to rest with its wheels in the air on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The explosion from his concussive blast and screeching sound from the resulting crash echoed loudly in Scott's ears. The pain was so intense that he threw his hands over his ears to try to stop the sound.

"Scott what just happened!" yelled Sara in a panic as she grabbed onto the doorframe for dear life.

"MOMMY make it stop!" Johnny screamed and begged his Mother the sounds were too much for the little boy.

Scott just stared and cringed at the damage he had caused. Only a moment before, he had been so mad at the punk for endangering Sara and Johnny that he had simply blasted at him without even thinking about the fact that he could hurt or kill innocent bystanders by that action. He leaned forward placed his head on the steering wheel and started to shake. He just could not believe that he had lost control and did something that irresponsible.

"Boy you and the missus and kid ok?" asked the very concerned older Police Officer who was looking into the driver side window. "Anyone hurt here?"

"What? I think we are ok." Scott automatically answered but then his anger over came is fear and he continued, "That truck just came out of there didn't stop, use his signals or anything!" Scott replied still shaky as he pointed at the U-Haul entranceway.

"That's ok young man you stopped in time to keep it from being one of his victims." The Police Officer stated with a pat on his shoulder. "I'm going to have to get a statement from you and the missus so could you pull in over there into the parking lot." He pointed to the U-Haul parking lot where he had been headed in the first place. "We can get this whole thing cleaned up and then you and your nice little family can go about your business." He said as he smiled at the nice young family who just avoided becoming part of this horrible tragedy. He was truly glad that damned fool had not hurt anyone else.

"Thank you. I will move over right now." Scott answered as he started the stalled out car. Once in the parking lot he turned off the engine and looked over at Sara who had climbed into the back seat with Johnny while he was talking to the cop.

"Are you alright Sara? Is Johnny ok? God that was so stupid of me! I could have killed someone." Scott exclaimed in fear.

"What do you mean you could of killed someone? That fool was the one who almost killed us! I mean if you hadn't reacted so fast…" Sara paused for a shaky breath and tried to collect her wits while calming Johnny down with soothing pats.

"Sara can you stay here I need to see how much damage I caused." Scott said as he went to get out of the car but Sara grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Darn it Scott you didn't cause this accident. That man did. What is your problem? What do you think you could have possibly done to cause any of this?" She asked in frustration.

"Yes I did. I blasted that truck, he spun out, flipped over and crashed and that IS my fault. I need to know how many people he ran into. How much damage I caused because I fought without any thought of who else was in the line of fire that might get hurt in the process." He said bitterly.

"Scott you are over reacting." She replied angrily.

"No I am not. I have a responsibility to use my powers with the utmost care and I blatantly disregarded public safety," answered an equally angry and ashamed Scott. "My power is extremely dangerous and I must never use it like I just did or I am no better than the people that Mary Jones fears."

"Very well," was all she said as she let go of his arm. She stared after him with sad eyes. She knew he had reacted according to his training and instinct. She had seen Creed do that on more than one occasion.

Surveying the damage Scott saw that the truck had hit a total of three other cars after its driver lost control, two parked and empty while the third he only clipped and the driver was unhurt. The driver of the truck on the other hand sustained serious injuries when he was thrown out of the truck when it flipped over.

Officer Clements came back over to talk to Scott and Sara at their car and introduce himself after several minutes of coordinating several crime scenes at once. "Folks I'm Patrolman Clements can I get your statement now?" Scott and Sara nodded their heads yes.

"Is the Guy from the truck going to be ok?" Scott asked right away as he looked in the direction of the incoming ambulance.

"Yeah, but the bastard doesn't deserve to be. Pardon my language ma'am." He nodded in Sara and Johnny's direction. "He killed a young lady working over at the U-Haul that is why he was all fired up getting out of there." He stated shaking his head. "Poor thing was just married to, I'm sure not looking forward to telling her husband about this." Looking up at Scott who was several inches taller than himself he asked, "Now, what happened to you during this whole mess?" Clements took down their statements and said they could go. Scott decided not to tell the officer about blowing out the back tire on the truck to make it wreck and neither did Sara.

Scott and Officer Clements shook hands and the family piled back into the rental car. "Scott please stop at the grocery." Sara requested.

After parking the car, Scott finally looked over at Sara. "Scott I know you only did it to protect us. Yes blowing out the tire on the truck causing the driver to loose control and could have killed someone else but it didn't. Furthermore, the way that maniac was driving he was probably going to get another family or someone killed while escaping." She took a deep breath and continued. "It also turned out that he killed a woman and you helped the cops catch him. He could have very easily gotten away."

"I…I still should not have done what I did without thought of the consequences." He argued lamely.

"It worked out. You are trained to make split second decisions. I think you actually saw that no one was going to be hurt if you stopped him. And if you still feel you did something wrong then you will just have to do better next time. Now, let's go into the store I need to change Johnny and I need a cold drink to settle my nerves. We can also find out where another rental center is." Sara stated trying to get everyone's mind on doing something other that thinking about what had happened and what could have happened.

Scott stared at Sara. What she said made sense when she explained it to him. It had been a very hard year with out Jean. She was always the one who showed him when he was right and when he was wrong. Now he had Sara.

"We are going inside Mr. Glum are you coming too?" Sara tried to joke while brushing the back of her hand across his cheek to recapture his attention.

"Yeah," he smiled tentatively back at her.

Johnny was oddly silent and still. "Johnny monster you ok big guy?" Scott asked after getting out of the car.

Johnny just stared at him and Scott could still smell his fear.

"I am sorry that I scared you and your mommy. What I did I did to protect you guys. However, we must always remember that in protecting the people we care about we must always protect anyone else who is innocent that maybe near by. You understand big guy?" Scott explained once he knelt down to Johnny's level.

"That man squashed a lady dead like a bug?" Johnny asked.

Scott stared at Sara in alarm.

Sara answered her son and Scott's silent plea. "Yes hunny he did. He was a very bad man."

"'Cott help policemans get bad guy?" He asked.

"Yes he did darling. Are you ok baby?" Sara knelt down and wrapped her arms around her son.

"Uh yeah. You not bad 'Cott you help." He then pulled out of his mother's and crawled into Scott's arms.

"Thanks big guy I needed that." He hugged Johnny tightly and kissed him on top of the head.

Inside the grocery, they went to the bathroom and then to the deli and got drinks and cookies for everyone. "Wow these are great sugar cookies." Sara said around a mouth full of cookie. Both Johnny and Scott laughed at her when she slapped her hand over her mouth to contain the cookie crumbs spilling from it.

She arched her eyebrow at them and tried to look dignified and failed miserably as the guys continued to howl in laughter.

At the customer service desk, Scott asked directions to another truck rental explaining that there was a shooting at the U-Haul so it was now closed.

"Wow I can't believe that!" The clerk exclaimed. "This is a nice neighborhood. We don't have things like that happening around here."

"Well the cops caught the guy that did it. So you don't have to worry about a repeat." Sara added.

"Oh that's good." The clerk said relieved. She then handed Scott written directions. "Ya'll have a good day folks." She smiled at them.

"Thanks you will be see more of us we just moved into the area. And I am might glad to hear that bad things like what happened to day don't happen here often." Sara said brightly as she waved goodbye.

After getting a truck finally at a different center than the one the grocery clerk had sent them too because they were out of trucks for the day, they decided to go back to the hotel and play in the pool.


	6. Day chp 6

10

A Different Day 

**Title:** A Different Day

**Author:** Lady Bethia

**E-Mail:** Page: http://groups. Scott/Sara Miller

**Ratings:** PG13 Strong language.

**Disclaimers:** X-Men/Sentinel crossover. The X-Men and the Sentinel are not mine. I am making no profit from this story. Sara Anne Miller and John Creed are my original characters.

**Summary:** Scott cannot decide what he is going to do with his life. However, with strange dreams, he sees many future possibilities.

A Different Day

Chapter 6

It had been a long and eventful two weeks in New Orleans for Scott. He had helped Sara and Johnny move into their new apartment and then on a whim rented a one bedroom at the same complex for himself. He had even looked through the want ads in the paper. It did not spook him anymore the thought that he was really thinking about staying here permanently with Sara and Johnny and never going back to the X-Men.

While Sara was looking for a job in the morning paper as usual she spotted one that would be just perfect for Scott.

"Hey Scott look at this." Sara said as she handed over her section of the want ads.

"What is it?" He asked not looking up from international section of the paper.

"It's an ad for a position at the Civil War Museum. They need a curator/administrator/history teacher type." She replied as he took the paper from her. He had told her all about his life at the Institute and that he actually had teacher's credentials in history and social sciences.

After reading the want ad, Scott circled it as a possible option. "You know Sara you could be right about this job. I have a BA in administration and a MA in history – military history. Hummm." He trailed off thinking hard about what he planned to do.

Sara sat back and smiled. She had found that her first impression of Scott had been quite correct. He was definitely the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Everything always felt better to her when he was around and he had even told her that he too felt a psychic connect to her. Besides the deciding factor had been Johnny. And he just loved Scott and had asked her if they could keep him forever. These thoughts made Sara smile brightly.

"I was thinking about going over to the library and typing up a new cover letter or two and making more copies of my resume. Ya want to come with?" Sara asked hoping he would say yes.

"I can't leave until late this afternoon. I am waiting for a delivery." Scott answered as he glanced up at Sara and saw her fabulous smile fade.

Sara felt a little disappointed but did not say anything.

"But I can go after the refrigerator, washer and dryer get here." He said as he smiled one of his best 'killer smiles' just for her. "Hopefully they won't wait until the last possible minute to deliver them."

Sara brightened immediately, "Great. I'll feed the munchkin a snack before we go so we can have dinner after we are done." She suggested.

"Fine. How about that Chinese restaurant down the street? It smelled great when I passed by it yesterday." He told her.

"You know Scott you sound like you have as sharp a nose as Johnny does'" she joked.

Scott frowned and thought about that. "You know some of my senses have been sharper than normal lately. At first I thought I was coming down with something but I haven't felt sick or had any other complaints." Scott confessed.

"Well if you have any problems just let me know. I can usually solve things like that. I mean I was able to help Creed and now Johnny has shown signs of some of the same problems and what I do seem to work for him too." Sara stated casually.

Scott smiled and said, "Thanks I'll remember that my lovely lady guru of the south."

"Hump." Sara replied as she threw a napkin at Scott's head.

Later that night when Scott climbed into bed, he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Then another weird dream started.

He was standing on a cliff in what appeared to be the Grand Canyon or some place like it. He was Cyclops and he was in uniform the one he had purposefully left in Winchester. Turning around to see what was around him, he spotted Thunderbird the first X-Man to have died on a mission. "Thunderbird what are you doing here? Where am I? What is going on?" Cyclops demanded looking around in confusion.

"You are on the spirit plane Cyclops. Do not worry I am only here to help guide you with an important decision that you must make." Thunderbird stated.

Thunderbird was dressed a great deal differently than the last time Cyclops had seen him. He was in traditional Apache dress instead of spandex and it was not the clothes of a warrior but of a Shaman. But the biggest difference that he detected was that Thunderbird finally looked at peace. He had been a bitter angry young man and had died willingly to stop the enemy instead of trying to figure out another way of stopping him without loss of life. He had simply had a death wish.

"Thunderbird why did you kill yourself to stop that plane?" Cyclops asked as he tried to control his temper. He was not even sure who he was madder with Thunderbird or himself. Cyclops truly wanted to know were his leadership skills had failed when it came to this man.

"I was a foolish young man. I tried to walk a path that was not my own. I was to become a shaman not a warrior. However, the death of my brother in battle and the grief of my family and the innate shame for my peoples' condition in life made me try to take my brother's place and that was not meant to be. I was not meant to bring honor back to my people through the skills of a warrior but as a shaman. I failed." He said sadly, as he shook his head.

"But I am here now, as a shaman to show you an alternative path to the one you are on. The one that would lead to your destruction as much as the false path I took in my own grief and shame. You must choose your path carefully and to do that you will have several dreams of possible futures choose carefully."

The scene changed and they were both now on a canyon floor and Thunderbird was pointing up at the canyon wall where an ancient cliff dwelling ruin was.

"We must go there to see what needs to be seen." Thunderbird said as he started to lead the way to the wall and a trail that was barely visible. The trail was a small game track and it lead to a cleft in the wall. Thunderbird climbed up into the cleft using tiny hand and footholds. Cyclops followed and watched Thunderbird closely to see where he moved to use the same handholds and foot placements to make sure he did not fall.

After a long hard climb, the two reached the lip of the cliff where the ruins were. Thunderbird walked thru the rubble with a fluid like grace that he had not possessed in life. When he reached the biggest kiva in the middle of the outer ledge the cliff, he turned to speak again to Cyclops. "This is a sacred place Cyclops. Once you enter the kiva, you will see many things and experience things that you will not understand at first. You will see several paths before you. Nevertheless, I will give you one warning as advice, the way of peace and giving up on being a warrior is not your true path. However, you will not be alone. You will have a partner. There will be pain but life is pain. And the world will be worse and more of the people you care for will die horribly if you don't give up this obsessive need to be able to control everything." Thunderbird intoned solemnly. "You can only control your own action. You must learn to accept everyone else's' actions even if they lead to failure. And only your partner can lead the way for you for she will be your life, heart and soul."

"I don't want to lead people into battle any more. I failed both you and Jean. I will not risk losing one more person or friend." Cyclops said wallowing in guilt that was not his own.

"You are as much of a fool as I was Scott." Thunderbird said as he lowered and shook his head. "Cyclops did not fail with Jean or me. It was our time and our Choice not yours. You have been tempered by what you have learned from everything that you have experienced so far in life including our deaths. Tempering is a painful process, but now you must pass thru the final testing. You must choose life and sanity or insanity and death." Thunderbird spoke in all seriousness holding out both his hand – 'the right as life the left as death'.

"Why is all this necessary?" Scott waved his hand around in disgust. "I do not want to play games any more." He replied angrily.

Thunderbird smiled, "Fear is a good thing it means you still care enough to fear. That is where I failed in my own testing. Go and be who you are not who you think you should be or what you think others want you to be." He then pointed to the ladder sticking up from a hole in the center of the floor/roof of the great kiva.

Scott looked down at himself. He was no longer dressed as Cyclops but as he had been dressed that day. He turned to Thunderbird nodded and turned back to the ladder and climbed down into the kiva. The room that he descended down into was dark. But as his foot hit the floor, the room began to glow softly.

Looking around, he noted what was in it and what it looked like. It was a circular room with one exit, a small hole cut into one wall. A fire pit was in the floor at the other end with some coals glowing. Just off center of the middle of the floor was a small hole that seemed to have no purpose that Scott could figure out. Around the edges of the walls, circling the room was a narrow ledge bench. Sitting on the bench was a female shaman and a male shaman that Scott had never seen before.

"Who are you?" asked Scott.

"I am Silver Fox Animal Shaman to the Guardian Warriors. And this is Incacha a shaman. You are the third one to be called forth. The other two will soon come here in real time to pass their tests. One will pass with his shaman by his side the other," she sighs and shakes her head. "The other will loose her shaman but will gain something that no other Animal Shaman has ever had."

"What are Guardian Warriors and Animal Shaman?" Scott asked confused.

"You are like Enquiri, he did not believe until it was all that was left for him to believe." Incacha replied sadly.

"Sit over there and we will show you the paths before you." Incacha ordered.

Scott walked over to the wall and sat on the bench. Incacha threw something into the fire and a great bellow of smoke puffed up and enveloped the room.

Scott started to cough. The air seemed to clear after a few moments and he was no longer in the kiva. He was in a jungle clearing. He heard a rustling in the bushes near him. He crouched into a defensive stance and reached for his visor. But his visor was gone! "What the hell?" He yelped in concern his glasses were going and he no longer had his powers.

Suddenly, the bushes part and a Labrador Retriever walked out. The dog stopped and stared at Scott. He huffed at him and sat down. The only odd-looking thing about the animal was its red glowing eyes.

"What are you?" Scott said just in case it is intelligent.

The dog sneezed, stood up and headed off to the left. When he reached the bushes, he turned and looked at Scott as if he wanted him to follow.

Nothing about this whole affair had made much sense to Scott so he straightened up and followed the dog. About a mile from the clearing, the dog stopped in front of a small spring fed pond. The dog sat down and waited for Scott. Scott came up to the dog and sat down.

He stared into the pond and saw a vision. It was him in a city running with a panicked mob. He reaches for his visor to shot the people that are shooting the people he is running with. However, his visor is gone and so are his powers. He sees one of the villains spot him and then he falls clutching a hole in his chest.

Scott blinked his eyes and he was back at the pond. The dog stood up and started to walk away. Scott got to his feet and followed.

The dog led the way to another pond and sat down again. Scott sighed and sat down. Looking into this pond, Scott saw another city and another Scott fighting only this time he had his visor but he was fighting the criminals alone. Crippled and left for dead, his sacrifice failed to help the people because the criminals ultimately won and razed the city.

Once again, he followed the dog to another pond the dog led him to. "God is there no future that isn't full of pain and fighting?" Scott asked no one.

Scott stared into the pond fearing the worst. But to his surprise, he saw himself and Jean back together, and getting married. Time moved fast and he saw them move to Alaska and have a son. Time slowed to normal speed and that is when things got weird.

"Madeline I have to go back and help. Why can't you understand that?" Scott pleaded to the woman that looked like Jean.

"If you leave us Scott you won't be coming back and we will not be here waiting for you!" The woman Madeline screamed.

"I will be back, I love you." Scott said without true feeling.

"No you don't you just used me." She growled.

Then time speed up again and now Madeline was wearing black leather that barely covered her and knee hi boots. She was holding out the baby to Mr. Sinister the vampire lord. "Here take the little beast I don't want it any more. Now give me the power you promised me." She demanded.

The next scene showed Madeline as a vampire with Scott battered and bloodied at her feet. "Give me back my son you bitch." He demanded violently.

"Oh very well for old times sake." She sneered evilly and then she magically produced the baby and handed it to him. Once the child was in his arms though it changed screamed and thrashed as a metal virus ripped thru its little body tearing it to pieces and then it attacked Scott. The vision resolved into the pool again.

Scott sat heavily on the ground shaking in pain and disbelief. "I can't see any more please. I don't want to see any more choices." He begged.

The dog got up and started off again. At the next pond, the dog whined happily, wiggled his tail and took a drink from the pond.

Scott was startled. But he moved forward and sat down. The pond was still and clean. Deciding that he was thirsty too he reached forward and cupped his hands into the water and took a drink as the next vision started.

Scott was arguing with Sara and both appear injured.

"No Scott I cover your back. I am not going to be left behind." Sara ground out in a fury.

"Yes you are. I don't want you hurt any more. God what would happen to Johnny if you died much less me? Think of Johnny for once you stubborn woman." Scott said harshly.

"I am thinking of Johnny. He needs both of us a father and a mother. And if you die because you're alone and I am not there to cover your ass, you anal-retentive bastard, I will die any way. And Johnny is still left alone." Sara refused to back down.

"You do what I say when I say." Scott demanded in concession.

"I will do what is necessary to back you up which includes listening to you occasionally." She smirked.

"God you are as bad as Wolverine sometimes." Scott smiled sadly kissed her and moved off with Sara following behind with a hand on his back centering him.

The scene darkened and a new scene appeared. Sara is standing over a prone Scott who is in some sort of blue uniform. She was holding a huge handgun and aiming at Sabretooth.

"Well, well, well if it aint Ole One Eye. I have been waiting for this day for a long time. Move bitch and I might leave you alive after I play with Ole One Eye there." Sabretooth sneered at Sara.

"Oh my God, Victor you don't even remember me do you?" Sara cried in shock but still kept her gun trained on Sabretooth.

"Should I remember you Frail?" Sabre replied confused.

"You loved me and our son once before you disappeared." Sara answered.

Sabretooth all of a sudden shuddered and stared at Sara and gasped out, "Sara, my Sara? What are you doing with him?"

"He is my partner and husband and Johnny is now his son. I am going to give you one and only one chance leave now or I will kill you to protect my mate." She growled out menacingly.

Sabretooth was shocked. His little gentle empathic mate was threatening him and claiming another as mate. "No, you're mine. I didn't leave you. They kidnapped me and used me to be a weapon for their damn war against our kind. They scrambled my memories again and I thought that you were a false memory that they implanted. But you're real. Please Sara leave that twit and we will get Johnny and run. We will leave the country and go some place safe and start again." Sabretooth pleaded feeling for the bond that they shared had once shared.

"No, our bond is gone. I'm fully life bonded to another Sentinel and I will protect him with my life." Sara stood firm.

"Kill the traitorous bitch now their dead anyway!" The Vampire Archangel said to.

Sabretooth clutched his head and screamed as he charged the two.

Sara with a hard cold expression that she learned from the leader of the clans raised the gun up slightly and made two shots at the charging Sabretooth. The shots connected, they penetrated both of Sabre's eyes and he fell at Sara feet – dead.

Scott blinked his eyes as he found himself back in the clearing next to the pond. The dog was lying on his side next to Scott looking happy and content.

"Is there any more of these nightmares for me to see?" He asked the dog.

The dog lifted his head and just stared at Scott while beating the ground with his tail.

"This is the future that I am supposed to follow? I don't want to see Sara become a killer." Scott shuddered.

"The future is not set I stone. What you have seen is still fluid. There are no absolutes. The others you have seen here still have choices of their own to make. Everyone is given a chance to walk in the light or the dark it all depends on how we choose. Choosing with the heart and the head seems to be the wisest choice." Thunderbird said as he disappeared.

Scott's dream faded and he went into a deep sleep with no more dreams or memories.


End file.
